The invention relates to swing arms for motorcycles. One type of swing arm is a truss structure, which is often in the shape of a pair of triangles. Motorcycles employing a truss style swing arm typically position the flexible drive member (such as a drive belt) between the swing arm and the rear wheel. It is usually necessary to break the loop defined by the drive member or to drop the transmission prior to removing the drive member from its operative position. Dropping the transmission is a known way to create a gap between the transmission and the frame and/or swing arm through which the drive member may be removed in an unbroken loop.
Another type of swing arm is a single forked swing arm that includes only one arm on each side of the tire (i.e., without the supporting members of the truss structure). The drive belt can be removed from a motorcycle having a single fork swing arm without dropping the transmission, but the single forked swing arm does not provide the stability of the truss structure.
The invention provides a motorcycle including a frame and an engine/transmission assembly that is mounted to the frame and includes an engine and a transmission operatively interconnected with the engine. The transmission includes an output shaft rotating in response to operation of the engine. The motorcycle further includes at its front end a steering assembly mounted to the frame and a front wheel rotatably mounted to the steering assembly. At its rear end, the motorcycle further includes a swing arm pivotably mounted to the frame and/or the transmission and a wheel rotatably mounted to the swing arm.
The swing arm defines a drive member aperture therethrough, and includes a removable portion. The drive member aperture may be selectively opened and closed by removing and attaching the removable portion, respectively, with respect to the swing arm. A flexible drive member is operatively interconnected between the transmission output shaft and the rear wheel to cause rotation of the rear wheel in response to operation of the engine. A portion of the drive member extends through the drive member aperture. The flexible drive member is thus removable from the motorcycle in a continuous unbroken loop by removing the removable portion from the rest of the swing arm and opening the drive member aperture.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the following detailed description, claims, and drawings.